T. Donahue

First official practice of the season for DCHS Girls Track.

In all of my time watching and participating in athletic events, I have learned one universal truth about sports. Athletes will do anything to win. Extra practices, hitting the gym after practice, staying late, getting up early, doing an extra rep, cutting sugar out of their diet; they will do whatever it takes to be the best that they can be.

When you are watching a true display of athleticism there are often hundreds if not thousands of hours of hard work and training that have led to that perfect touchdown spiral or the deadly spike. Nothing good comes without hard work.

That is the mindset of some of the greatest athletes and teams all over the world. Here at Dowling you only need to go into the gym and look at the wall full of state championship banners to realize that our school’s teams have the same successful mentality about sports. 

On that wall full of team state championships a few teams are missing, including Girls’ Track and Field. Kelly Parriott, the head coach of Girls Track, wants to change that this year. 

Winning state in any sport is a massive undertaking that must be carefully planned in many regards. “I think the most important thing is team,” says Parriott, “these kids are what we mean when we talk about people who trust, rely on, work hard with one another, and they have put in the effort from day one. We didn’t get here because we relied on natural ability, we have people who work incredibly hard.”

With a strong team full of very talented athletes the physical training is taxing, to say the least. “We are making our girls run hard, but our main focus as always is staying healthy and injury-free,” Parriott states. Physical training is only part of the battle to win state.

Parriott reiterates, “We can win state this year and it is important to make sure that everyone is aware of this goal. We have a level of greatness that already exists but to reach this goal we need to go out of our comfort zone.” 

The team motto for this year is a quote from and it says, “The world is full of comfort, but you were not made for comfort, you were made for greatness.” Greatness, such as winning the state track meet like the Boys did last year, comes from the small things like an extra rep, extra lifting, and giving up junk food. All the things that athletes who want to go to the top are willing to do.

Track is not an easy sport running is one of the most challenging things out there. To win the state meet though you can’t just run. You have to be a team, sprinters, distance, throwers, jumpers, and hurdlers all have to come together. Winning state is not an individual goal, rather it is a team goal. 

We are Dowling Catholic Girls Track and Field. This is our year to win state for Dowling, and for our teammates, but mostly to glorify God with our running.